PC hardware: Hook Computer to TV
Hook Computer to TV
by gschein - 6/8/06 6:16 AMI am trying to hook up an older Dell P4 to my TV. It has a PNY GeForce FX5700 Ultra with S-Video tv-out as well as a Hauppage Win-TV PVR 150. I'm trying to hook it up to a 27" Magnavox TV with only RCA (composite) connectors through a Pioneer a/v receiver that does have s-video inputs. However, I am unable to get a picture and keep staring at a black screen. I am using the latest drivers from Nvidia. The PNY site said to make sure that nothing is in-between the graphics card and the TV. Am I out of luck? I've seen many examples on the web of people who hook up their pc via a receiver. Any ideas of what I should try?
many a/v receivers don't convert video signals
by ramarc - 6/8/06 7:14 AM In reply to: Hook Computer to TV by gscheins-video in will probably result in s-video out... check your receiver's manual. your fx5700 should have a dongle that converts the output to composite also. otherwise you can pickup a converter at sears, radio shack, etc. (http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?pid=05760042000&vertical=Sears
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2344387)
make sure the pc and tv work together before introducing the a/v receiver.
also, when using two monitors, the second monitor (or tv in this case) may be blank initially if you haven't configured it in the nvidia control panel. move your mouse pointer off the right edge of your desktop and see if it appears on the TV.
It's probably that control panel display options thing.
by Saber21gh - 6/8/06 8:18 AM In reply to: many a/v receivers don't convert video signals by ramarcThat other guy is probably right, you have to activate the 2nd monitor in control panel, displays options.
This might help
by steve.trelease - 6/8/06 2:52 PM In reply to: Hook Computer to TV by gscheinI have a relatively new Sony receiver, and I know that its video buses do not intermingle; in otherwords, you can't get S-Video out from RCA in (and vice versa). This is likely to be the same in your case
Even if you are able to get S-Video into the TV, be prepared for non-PC-like resolution (worse than the lowest setting of 640x480). If you are simply doing this to play the output from your PVR, it shouldn't be any worse than normal TV, but other computer applications will look quite fuzzy. If you want a TV to behave like an oversized PC monitor, you'll need to get an HD set (since standard-sized monitors can handle HD-like resolutions).
Nvidia properties
by Brianstech - 6/9/06 4:40 AM In reply to: Hook Computer to TV by gscheinWhat you are attempting should be a simple process. Unfortunately, it is not until you learn more about nVidia properties. I've been through it with a few different PC's, TV's, and video cards. It is a little complicated, and I never retained enough knowledge to share here. You just need some "trial and error" with some research. It's worth it when you get there.
Each different nVidia driver release seems to come with different changes in their GUIs (graphic user interfaces). You always start by hooking the TV (or AV reciever) up, and forcing your nVidia to see it. My current Forceware driver on this PC is version 81.98. Under "Tools" on my nVidia Properties, there's a "Detect Displays" button with a "Force TV Detection" checkbox right above it.
Once your second display is detected, you will see two monitors on your "Display Properties> Settings" tab. Then the fun starts. I usually click the #2 monitor and set it up as an analog TV at 640x480 resolution. You can also try a lower color setting. I run in "Clone" mode, without "Expanding my Desktop" to the secondary. Next I somehow get it to open video (movies, television, DVD's, etc.) in fullscreen. That way my TV shows fullscreen video while still windowed on my monitor.
Like I said, a bit complicated, but worth it.
NVIdia properties
by cdwatters - 6/9/06 6:51 AM In reply to: Nvidia properties by BrianstechIf you're just hooking the TV to the PC directly, not as a second monitor, you'll need to temporarily hook a monitor, set the ''Force Detection'' setting in the NVIDIA settings. Once the force is successful, you *should* be able to remove the monitor and restart the PC - complete power cycle.
If you see the startup screen on the TV, then lose the video, set the video resolution in Windows to 640x480 and try again.
If you can get the system to work consistently directly, then I'd introduce the AV Receiver, put the Svideo > Composite adapter between the PC and the receiver, and feed composite to the TV.
I can't completely agree with one of the previous posters, with normal composite and a reasonable quality TV/Monitor you can often get a very usable picture at 720x480. Suitable for email and light web use, DVD playback, etc.
That said, the cost of TV/Monitors with multiple inputs is really dropping. Nice HD ready 30'' TUBE set can be found for under $400 in many places in the USA, with the usual assortment of input options.
TV resolution
by steve.trelease - 6/9/06 12:09 PM In reply to: NVIdia properties by cdwattersI didn't necessarily say that a standard-def TV is unusable as a monitor - certainly it's fine for the light-use examples cited, among them displaying recorded NTSC broadcasts (which, BTW, look horrible when shown full-screen on a PC monitor). I simply wanted to make the poster aware that the resolution quality would not be the same on a TV as on a PC monitor.
Yes, it works, but...
by bennychen - 6/9/06 12:10 PM In reply to: NVIdia properties by cdwattersI had the same problem. I put the NVIDIA settings to 640x480 and 265 colors. And all you suggested. But the colors in TV set are lausy. They flush around each letter in the screen and the text is almost unreadable. I use the TV set as a teaching tool instead of an (still expensive) video projector.
TRY USING AN S-VIDEO to rca adapter
by ask4anu - 6/11/06 11:35 PM In reply to: Hook Computer to TV by gscheinand also you make sure that you are projecting you desktop to the TV as well should be in control panel \dispaly settings \if it is not selected there to project desktop to tv it will stay blank on your tv you may also didnt set the output from your svideo adpater unit correct as well to display on the right channel on your tv say using setting Svideo output to your tv and svideo input from your video card then setting video device to display using svideo and you may not have the tv on the right channel as well
£33T
It's Working
by gschein - 6/12/06 3:17 AM In reply to: TRY USING AN S-VIDEO to rca adapter by ask4anuThe S-Video to RCA Adapter is what Radio Shack recommended as well. I went home hooked it up and took into account some of the other suggestions and it worked!!!
Thanks to all for taking the time to respond.
Nothing LIKE SOME COMPUTER TV LOVING
by ask4anu - 6/12/06 12:56 PM In reply to: It's Working by gscheinMAKE SURE YOU LEARN HOW TO TWEAK YOUR COMPUTER SO IT WILL RUN ITS MAX PERFORMANCE POSSIABLE if you plan to run games on your TV you will now kick any console games to the curb after playing on your TV with your computer because nothing is better then BIG when it comes to veiwing desktops on BIG SCREENS LETS HERE IT FOR INOVATION TECH
£33TB-)©®@2006
I got the exact TV you got Bub...
by weAponX - 10/13/07 5:50 PM In reply to: Hook Computer to TV by gscheinAnd I am hooked into a RADEON 9200 PRO. This MSI AGP card has Primary and Secondary outputs:
Device Description
RADEON 9200 PRO Family (Microsoft Corporation)
RADEON 9200 PRO SEC Family (Microsoft Corporation)
Device Description: RADEON 9200 PRO Family (Microsoft Corporation)
Adapter String RADEON 9200 PRO Family (Microsoft Corporation
BIOS String BK-ATI VER008.017D.031.000
Chip Type RADEON 9200 PRO AGP (0x5960)
DAC Type Internal DAC(500MHz)
Installed Drivers ati2dvag (6.14.10.6462)
Memory Size 128 MB
Video Adapter Manufacturer
Company Name ATI Technologies Inc.
Product Information http://www.ati.com/products/gamer.html
Driver Download http://www.ati.com/support/driver.html
Driver Update http://driveragent.com?ref=59
Now, this AGP card is extremely volatile, I had it installed in an MSI Motherboard... Not sure which one, but it was generally incompatible with the whole board. I did find an MSI K8MM-v/3 bare bones system that accepted the card no sweat, and I have been using it ever since.
My Computer monitor is a 21" Sun, came from a SPARC workstation, has three inputs, one of them being one of those Sun connectors. I am running that as Primary at 1280 by 960 at 75 Hz which is of course, the maximum.
The secondary, however, I am running into my 27" Magnavox TV through the S-video output of the RADEON card. The resolution to the TV is 1024 by 768... 200 Hz! It does seem to look a little sharper at 200 Hz... But just for safety I keep it down at 160 Hz.
I run the S-video cable through a non-RF selector switch... I used to have an Active RF switch there... But my "Movie Center" was putting out 60-Cycle hum. So I switched to a passive selector switch and no hum.
It is not the best Entertainment system, but it is the best DivX system I have ever had! And since I use a Digi-001 to pipe the audio out into a surround system that has a swell 5.1 emulator, well, I wish the TV screen was larger.
But as it is, I am fine, cos I watch wile I work, and the media automatically outputs to the TV by default.
I like ATI stuff, especially Pre-AMD ATI... I do not like that Catalyst driver, but once you get it installed, everything looks super swell!
Now I am sure, I could get a 500 MB or 1 GB Dual Video Card, but to what purpose, all I got is this MagnaVox TV, it is not Hi Def, but it is large enough so I do not go blind with a 20" Mini TV.
My system is an MSI x64 AMD socket 754 3200 Newcastle, and at 2.2 GHz you cant beat it that much, execpt with a Dual Core and Dual Channel 1 GHz DDR2 Ram.
Next time I gat another thousand bucks to spend on a PC... It'll be that. But by that time I'll get the 37" Home Theatre screen I was looking at last Christmas... Well I can dram can't I?
Actually I want to ask... Is it safe to pump the Hz up to 200Hz? It looks pretty sharp that way. Better than 43 Hz!
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